India Greenlights $119 Million Fund for Space Startup Initiatives

by Tauqeer Abbas
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The Indian government has approved a fund of 10 billion Indian rupees (approximately $119 million) aimed at bolstering its space sector, particularly benefiting around 40 startups in the industry.

This initiative is part of India’s strategy to capture a significant share of the global commercial space market by 2033.

The funding allocated to each startup will range between 100 million and 600 million Indian rupees, depending on their stage of development.

The government stated that this financial support is expected to create jobs, enhance the development of space technology, strengthen supply chains, and foster research and development in the sector.

The initiative is designed to create a multiplier effect by attracting additional investments for advanced stages of development within the startups.

The fund, first proposed in July, will be managed by the country’s space regulator, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre.

India is among the top five space-faring nations in the world but only holds about a two per cent market share of the commercial space market.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been pushing to change that, opening up the industry to foreign investment and targeting a five-fold increase in market share to $44bn by 2033.

The country currently has nearly 250 space startups, many of which are in the business of providing cost-effective services and hardware to sectors such as communications, agriculture and commodities, where high-quality data is a precious resource.

Others are building the country’s first private rockets.

Private equity investment in the industry has risen to $126m in 2023, a 7pc increase from the $118m raised in 2022 and an increase of 235pc from the $37.6m raised in 2021, according to Tracxn data.

Source: Dawn News 

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